Debt to Reach Post WW II High

More great news from Obamaville.

The national debt will reach 62 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of this year, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said Wednesday.

The budget office said the debt will reach its highest percentage of GDP since the end of World War II. The jump is driven by lower tax revenues and higher federal spending in the recent recession.

And while the national debt would stabilize at 67 percent of GDP over the next decade if current law were maintained, extending tax cuts enacted during the administration of President George W. Bush and keeping growth in appropriations in line with inflation would mean that the debt would reach almost 90 percent of GDP by 2020.

By contrast, GDP has averaged "a little above" 36 percent per year over the past 40 years.

Kagan Manipulates Document to Protect Partial-Birth Abortion

One word....DISGUSTING.

It seems that the most important statement in the famous position paper of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists—a 1996 document that was central to the case of partial-birth-abortion defenders for the subsequent decade and played a major role in a number of court cases and political battles—was drafted not by an impartial committee of physicians, as both ACOG and the pro-abortion lobby claimed for years, but by Elena Kagan, who was then the deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy.

Kagan saw ACOG’s original paper, which did not include the claim that partial-birth abortion “may be the best or most appropriate procedure in a particular circumstance to save the life or preserve the health of a woman,” but, on the contrary, said that ACOG “could identify no circumstances under which this procedure . . . would be the only option to save the life or preserve the health of the woman.” She wrote a memo to two White House colleagues noting that this language would be “a disaster” for the cause of partial-birth abortion, and she then set out to do something about it. In notes released by the White House it now looks as though Kagan herself—a senior Clinton White House staffer with no medical background—proposed the “may be the best or most appropriate procedure in a particular circumstance to save the life or preserve the health of a woman” language, and sent it to ACOG, which then included that language in its final statement.

Then she obfuscates when confronted directly on the issue.


And now this.

Robert Byrd replacement not immediate concern for W. Va. Gov

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin doesn't expect to start searching for a successor to U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd until after the longest-serving senator in history is laid to rest next week.

Manchin says he's instead focused on comforting Byrd's family and staff, and preparing the West Virginia memorial scheduled for Friday for the iconic figure who died Monday at 92 after years of frail health.

What a total crock. This Democrat POS knows that if he delays declaring the Byrd seat "vacant" untill after July 3rd, his Senate appointee can serve untill 2012 without special election. Frankly Byrd's seat has been vacant for some time, nonetheless when the man actually assumes room temp the seat should automatically be considered "vacant".

U.S. consumer confidence plummets

Like expecting "green shoots" in the dustbowl.

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. consumers are increasingly worried about jobs and the economy, the Conference Board said Tuesday, as it reported that its consumer confidence index plummeted to 52.9 in June - the lowest level since March -- from a downwardly revised 62.7 in May. "Increasing uncertainty and apprehension about the future state of the economy and labor market, no doubt a result of the recent slowdown in job growth, are the primary reasons for the sharp reversal in confidence," said Lynn Franco, director of Conference Board's consumer research center. "Until the pace of job growth picks up, consumer confidence is not likely to pick up." Earlier this month the government reported that nonfarm payrolls grew by a seasonally adjusted 431,000 in May, but most of the new jobs were temporary jobs at the U.S. Census, with very weak private-sector hiring

Pushing the Reset Button Again

"President Barack Obama declared Thursday that he and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev have "succeeded in resetting" the relationship between the former Cold War adversaries that had dipped to a dangerous low in recent years."

2nd Amendment Upheld, “Right to Keep and Bear Arms Applies Nationwide"

The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the right to bear arms by citizens to state and municipal districts, once and far all guarantee the rights of gun owners.

In doing so, the justices, by a narrow 5-4 margin, signaled that less severe restrictions could survive legal challenges.

Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the court, said the Second Amendment right “applies equally to the federal government and the states.”

The court was split along familiar ideological lines, with five conservative-moderate justices in favor of gun rights and the four liberals, opposed.

This should be the last nail in the coffin of Chicago's ultra restictive gun law.

Byrd (D) Hospitalized in Serious Condition

It's obvious that this man has not been making his own legislative decisions for some time.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Robert Byrd, the longest-serving member of Congress, is "seriously ill" and has been hospitalized, a spokesman for the West Virginia lawmaker said Sunday.

In a statement, Byrd spokesman Jesse Jacobs said the senator was initially admitted to a Washington-area hospital late last week for what doctors thought was heat-related illness.

"However, upon further examination by his doctors, other conditions have developed which has resulted in his condition being described as 'serious,"' Jacobs said.

He's Gone.

Another "Joe the Plumber Moment?

Biden's a real class act...Vice-President Joe Biden at Kopp’s Frozen Custard in the Milwaukee area, where he was appearing with Democrat Sen. Russ Feingold.

Here's the video.

NYT: Closing Guantánamo Fades as a Priority

Yet another campaign promise goes unfullfilled.

WASHINGTON — Stymied by political opposition and focused on competing priorities , the Obama administration has sidelined efforts to close the Guantánamo prison, making it unlikely that President Obama will fulfill his promise to close it before his term ends in 2013.

When the White House acknowledged last year that it would miss Mr. Obama’s initial January 2010 deadline for shutting the prison, it also declared that the detainees would eventually be moved to one in Illinois. But impediments to that plan have mounted in Congress, and the administration is doing little to overcome them.

“There is a lot of inertia” against closing the prison, “and the administration is not putting a lot of energy behind their position that I can see,” said Senator Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and supports the Illinois plan. He added that “the odds are that it will still be open” by the next presidential inauguration.

Friday Funny

First Quarter GNP Growth Lowerered to 2.7 Percent

Ever notice how the only economic figures that are not eventually lowered are the unemployment numbers?

WASHINGTON -- The government lowered its estimate of how much the economy grew in the first quarter of the year, noting that consumers spent less than it previously thought.

The Commerce Department says that gross domestic product rose by 2.7 percent in the January-to-March period, less than the 3 percent estimate for the quarter that the government released last month. It was also much slower than the 5.6 percent pace in the previous quarter.

The department's report is the third of three estimates it makes for each quarter's GDP, the broadest measure of the nation's economic output. The first quarter's growth rate declined from earlier reports because consumers spent less than previously estimated, while the nation imported more goods from overseas.

Twitter Instead Of The Legendary "Red Phones"

Any wonder why?

Portland woman says Al Gore groped her in hotel room

If it's happened once, it's happened twenty times.

A Portland massage therapist gave local police a detailed statement last year alleging that former Vice President Al Gore groped her, kissed her and made unwanted sexual advances during a late-night massage session in October 2006 in a suite at the upscale Hotel Lucia.

The woman told investigators that she informed two friends and kept the clothes she wore that night, including her black pants with stains on them. But Portland police didn't contact any of the woman's friends, obtain the potential evidence or interview anyone at the hotel, records show.

"The case was not investigated any further because detectives concluded there was insufficient evidence to support the allegations," the Portland Police Bureau said in a prepared statement Wednesday, responding to inquiries from all over the world after the National Enquirer broke the story on its website.

New Home Sales Plunge 33% in May

More great news from Obamaland.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sales of new single-family homes tumbled more than expected to a record low in May as the boost from a popular tax credit faded, according to a government report on Wednesday that added to worries of a slowing economic recovery.

The Commerce Department said sales dropped a record 32.7 percent to a 300,000 unit annual rate, the lowest level since record keeping started in 1963, from a downwardly revised 446,000 units in April. The fall unwound two months of gains, which had been inspired by a government tax credit for home buyers. Prospective home owners had to sign contracts by April 30. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast new home sales sliding to a 410,000 unit-pace from April's previously reported 504,000 units. New home sales are measured at contract signing. A report on Tuesday showed sales of previously owned homes, which are recorded at contract closing, fell unexpectedly in May.

Quote of the Day

"Promising to kick someone's ass in between a rock concert and a round of golf is not, it turns out, a very impressive show of political agility."

S. E. Cupp , New York Daily News.

Mexico asks court to reject Ariz. immigration law

Words fail me.

PHOENIX - Mexico is asking a federal court in Arizona to declare the state's new immigration law unconstitutional.

Lawyers for Mexico on Tuesday submitted a legal brief in support of a lawsuit challenging the law.

It also makes being in Arizona illegally a misdemeanor, and it prohibits seeking day-labor work along the state's streets.

Opposition grows to Stalin bust at D-Day Memorial

Opponents of the recently installed bust of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Va., are not backing down and have started a worldwide petition.

The petition, started last week, calls on the officers and board of directors at the National D-Day Memorial Foundation to remove the bust. It had received 616 confirmed signatures as of Monday afternoon, with confirmation pending on more than 200 other signatures.

The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, with assistance from the Joint Baltic American National Committee, intends to marshal public opinion against the board's decision, said Karl Altau, the committee's managing director. Mr. Altau said that while no goal has been specified, 10,000 signatures would be "terrific."

Pardon my ignorance, but did Josef Stalin have absolutely nothing to do with the D-Day invasion whatsoever? Yea, I thought so.

Jindal steps up battle against Obama's 6-month deepwater drilling moratorium

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) has spent weeks throwing political punches at the Obama administration’s six-month freeze on deepwater oil-and-gas drilling, alleging it will wreak havoc on the region’s already battered economy.

Now, Jindal is battling the moratorium in the courtroom, too.

Jindal and state Attorney General Buddy Caldwell on Sunday filed a legal brief in support of a Louisiana-based offshore services company that’s asking a federal judge to lift the ban.

The ban is “effectively turning an environmental disaster into an economic catastrophe for the state,” the brief alleges.

The ban is in place while the administration and a White House-created independent commission review drilling safety in the wake of the BP oil spill.

Jindal’s brief — filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana — alleges the Interior Department “completely ignored” the effect the ban will have on Louisiana’s economy.

Offshore oil-and-gas is a $3 billion annual industry in the state, the brief claims, noting the salaries of rig workers, the scores of companies that have boat, food and other types of contracts, and many other ways the state's economy is tethered to drilling.

So, destroy a $3 billion industry to protect same; BRILLIANT.

Misleading Headline of the Week

As midterm elections loom, Democrats zero in on a GOP apology to BP.

Since when does one Congressman represent “The GOP”?

The Gang That Couldn't Protest Straight

Clueless.

Some 500 anti-Israel protestors arrived at the Oakland, California port early Sunday morning, hoping to block an Israeli ship from unloading its cargo. However, the ship did not arrive, and the crowd prevented workers from unloading a Chinese ship instead.

The protestors say they were protesting the recent Israel-Turkey flotilla incident, though they displayed great ignorance about what actually happened; one of them even compared barely armed Israeli Defense Forces troops with Somali pirates.

Happy Fathers Day

Hugo Chavez Spearheads Raids as Food Prices Skyrocket

Obama's mentor, as is Obama, enjoying the fruits of their policies.

Mountains of rotting food found at a government warehouse, soaring prices and soldiers raiding wholesalers accused of hoarding: Food supply is the latest battle in President Hugo Chavez's socialist revolution.

It is also the latest issue to divide the Latin American country where Chavez has nationalized a wide swathe of the economy, he says to reverse years of exploitation of the poor.

Critics accuse him of steering the country toward a communist dictatorship and say he is destroying the private sector.

Friday Funny

New New Low Water Mark

Talk about a negative bounce...The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Friday shows that 25% of the nation's voters Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president. Forty-six percent (46%) Strongly Disapprove, giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -21 (see trends).

These results are based upon nightly telephone interviews and reported on a three-day rolling average basis. As a result, more than two-thirds of the interviews for today’s update were conducted after the president’s speech to the nation. Tomorrow’s update will be the first based entirely upon interviews conducted after the speech.

Overall, 41% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president's performance. That’s the lowest level of approval yet recorded for this president. Fifty-eight percent (58%) now disapprove.

That puts the all important "abyss rating" at -5, devastating.

Obama Admin. Argues in Court That Individual Mandate Is a Tax

Contrary to the garbage spin that has been put out by the left over the last 2 years, it most definately IS a tax and a most massive one at that. Now as to the constitutionality of this "tax", that's another story.

In order to protect the new national health care law from legal challenges, the Obama administration has been forced to argue that the individual mandate represents a tax -- even though Obama himself argued the exact opposite while campaigning to pass the legislation.

Late last night, the Obama Department of Justice filed a motion to dismiss the Florida-based lawsuit against the health care law, arguing that the court lacks jurisdiction and that the State of Florida and fellow plaintiffs haven't presented a claim for which the court can grant relief. To bolster its case, the DOJ cited the Anti-Injunction Act, which restricts courts from interfering with the government's ability to collect taxes.

The Act, according to a DOJ memo supporting the motion to dismiss, says that "no suit for the purpose of restraining the assessment or collection of any tax shall be maintained in any court by any person, whether or not such person is the person against whom such tax was assessed." The memo goes on to say that it makes no difference whether the disputed payment it is called a "tax" or "penalty," because either way, it's "assessed and collected in the same manner" by the Internal Revenue Service.

New weekly jobless claims rise by 12,000 to 472,000

Eighteen(18) months into his Presidency and this is the result.

The number of people filing new claims for jobless benefits jumped last week after three straight declines, another sign that hiring remains weak, while consumer prices fell.

The Labor Department says initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 472,000, the highest level in a month. Economists had expected claims would fall to a seasonally adjusted 450,000, according to Thomson Reuters.

First-time claims have hovered near 450,000 since the beginning of the year after falling steadily in the second half of 2009. That has raised concerns that hiring is lackluster and could slow the recovery.

The number of people continuing to claim benefits rose by 88,000 to 4.57 million.

Illegal Dutch Oil Skimmers, the EPA and the Feckless POTUS

Read the whole thing, it's worth it.

Two Dutch companies were on stand-by, on May 4, 2010, to help Americans tackle the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico. The two companies use huge booms to sweep and suck the oil from the surface of the sea. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), however, has difficulties with the method they use.

So it seems that according to the EPA, it's acceptable to burn millions of gallons of raw crude, sending the harmful waste into the atmosphere, or to dump millions of gallons of toxic dispersant's into the waters, but it's not acceptable to actually collect 75-80% of the oil for recycling?

So has Obama stepped in to waive the Jones Act yet? Not quite, but he did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express on the Gulf Coast. Then, like any good community organizer, he excogitated the extortion of $20 billion from BP.

What do the Dutch have that the Americans don’t when it comes to tackling oil spills at sea?

“Skimmers,” answers Wierd Koops, chairman of the Dutch organization for combating oil spills, Spill Response Group Holland.

New Low Water Mark for The One

Rasmussen has Obama tanking.

Obama Approval Falls to New Low: 42% Total Approval

Strongly Approve 24%
Strongly Disapprove 44%

Obama Approval Index: -20

New NPR Poll Looks Bad For Congressional Dems

Looks as though Rasmussen has been right all along.

A new poll from Public Opinion Strategies and GQR for NPR, which shows Democrats performing badly in vulnerable House seats, is making a lot of waves this morning. It certainly contains bad news for Democrats -- however -- it is the same bad news that was already implied by generic ballot polling.

The poll shows Democrats losing by an average of eight points -- 41 to 49 -- on average between the 70 districts that POS/GQR surveyed. However, ten of these districts are Republican-held seats. In the 60 House seats deemed to be most vulnerable by POS/GQR, the Democrats deficit is slightly milder at 42-47.

Clinton ahead of Obama in popularity

Well, that didn't take long.

It's about two years too late, but Hillary Clinton has finally pulled ahead of Barack Obama.

By any measure -- favorability ratings or job approval -- Americans by a sizable margin have warmer views of the secretary of state than they do of the president. This is of little use to Clinton beyond bragging rights, but among Hillary '08 fans there is some satisfaction that the woman Obama once cut down as "likable enough" is now more liked than he is. Depending on the measure and the poll, she leads him by roughly 10 to 25 percentage points.

We'll see if it has "little use beyond bragging rights" in 2012.

Another High Value Terrorist Blows Self Up

Momma always said, "You play with fire..."

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Pakistani militant commander, Qari Zafar, who was allegedly involved in the attack on the U.S. consulate in Karachi on March 2, 2002, was killed by an explosive in North Waziristan a few days ago.

The United States had announced $5 million award for his capture. Zafar belonged to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and was wanted by the government for several terrorist attacks in Pakistan, including masterminding the Marriott Hotel bombing.

Liberal Rabbi who Exposed Helen Thomas: I Have to Re-Evaluate

It's a wonderful thing when that little light bulb finally comes on.

Rabbi David Nesenoff made headlines recently when he inadvertently exposed veteran American journalist Helen Thomas' virulently anti-Israel views. In an impromptu video interview, Thomas told Nesenoff that Jews living in Israel should "get the hell out of Palestine" and “go home” to Poland and Germany. Under strong attack for her remarks, she announced her retirement just days later.

Nesenoff said Sunday that his background and motives had been misunderstood. Far from attempting to expose Thomas, he told CNN, he was a supporter of hers who had been unaware of her anti-Semitic views.

When he approached Thomas and asked her for her thoughts on Israel, he was not expecting her response, he said. “Of course, there might be anti-Israel or pro-Palestinian [opinion]. That's very different than anti-Semitic and anti-Jewish and wanting to cleanse a piece of land,” he explained.

Nesenoff described himself as “a New York Democrat Jewish liberal supporter of Obama” who is now reconsidering his political views in light of what has happened.

Obama Opposes US Sanctions on Iran

Well knock me over with a feather.

The Obama administration is working to balance its support of United Nations Security Council sanctions against Iran by opposing similar sanctions in the process of being formulated by the U.S. Congress.

The American version of such sanctions would punish firms that sell refined petroleum products to the Islamic Republic or help the country's oil industry in other ways. The sanctions would apply only to U.S. agencies and companies and would not be binding on other countries.

Other nations are also considering similar measures, now that the U.N. sanctions have been approved.

Sen. Bennet: I knew White House urged Romanoff not to run

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) said Thursday he was aware the White House had urged Andrew Romanoff not to challenge him in a primary.

Bennet told The Hill he knew beforehand that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina had reached out to Romanoff in hopes of avoiding a primary challenge to the incumbent Bennet.

“Yeah, I was aware,” Bennet said. “Right.”

You just gotta respect how the Demcrats have truely mastered the art of spin. "Reached out", now that's one for the ages.

Obama Administration to Support Anti-Israel Resolution at UN Next Week

What could they possibly be thinking...

THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned that senior Obama administration officials have been telling foreign governments that the administration intends to support an effort next week at the United Nations to set up an independent commission, under UN auspices, to investigate Israel's behavior in the Gaza flotilla incident.

The White House has apparently shrugged off concerns from elsewhere in the U.S. government that a) this is an extraordinary singling out of Israel, since all kinds of much worse incidents happen around the world without spurring UN investigations; b) that the investigation will be one-sided, focusing entirely on Israeli behavior and not on Turkey or on Hamas; and c) that this sets a terrible precedent for outside investigations of incidents involving U.S. troops or intelligence operatives as we conduct our own war on terror.

Retail Sales Crater

More "green shoots" turn brown.

The recovery of the U.S. economy will further be called into question after Friday’s release of May retail sales, which showed a marked decline in the spending habits of consumers.

The Commerce Department said retail sales dropped 1.2% last month, well below the 0.2% increase economists had been expecting. It was the biggest drop since last September’s 2.2% falloff.

Removing sales of autos and gas, sales fell 0.8%.

Weekly New jobless claims drop by 3,000 but remain stubbornly high

"Stubbornly High", an interesting choice of words.

New jobless claims filed last week fell by 3,000 to 456,000, another sign that unemployment remains stuck stubbornly high.

The four-week moving average of new claims, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, rose by 2,500 to 463,000.

It's also of interest that last weeks figures were adjusted up 6000 from 453K to 459K. Keeping that in mid this weeks figures are actually an increase of 3000 from last week.

Pic of the Day

SEIU officials: Blanche Lincoln should forget about our support in general election

Hell hath no fury like a union scorned.

SEIU officials: Blanche Lincoln should forget about our support in general election.
In a move that's likely to ratchet up already-white-hot post-Arkansas tensions between organized labor and the White House, officials with the labor powerhouse SEIU are confirming that they are all but certain not to back Blanche Lincoln in the general election.

SEIU sends over a statement from national political director Jon Youngdahl that constitutes the first on-the-record threat since the election not to support the Democrat:

For all the talk about what this race meant, the pundits are missing the point: all around this country their are families who've lost their jobs or watched their paychecks shrink. They are fighting to keep homes they've owned for 20 years. They are wondering how they are going to send their kids to school. These voters are demanding candidates who are speaking for them, not for the special interests who have destroyed our economy. And we will be at their side making sure that our members, their families and their communities have a voice in the process.

Quote of the Day

"When I joined the military it was illegal
to be homosexual, then it became optional.
I'm getting out
before Obama makes it mandatory."


GySgt Harry Berres, USMC

Pic of the Day

Thomas Gone for the Moment

Anyone wanna bet Huffington picks her up?

BP's well cap now containing 15,000 barrels of oil a day

Sorry folks, unlike some of my conservative bretherin I do not believe there is some sort off vast left wing conspiracy to stop offshore drilling forever. I do believe, however, one must take some of these reports with a grain of salt.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- BP PLC moved closer Monday to bringing to heel the Gulf of Mexico gusher that ranks as the worst spill in U.S. history, but officials acknowledged that more equipment is needed to process the huge flow of oil and natural gas coming from the ruptured well.

U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said BP is now capturing about 15,000 barrels of oil a day from a containment cap lowered onto the riser pipe lats last week, but more oil continues to billow out into the water from unclosed vents on the cap, as well as from broken parts of the seal.

BP will bring in a second processing platform with a capacity of 20,000 barrels a day to handle the mix of oil, gas and seawater coming from the well, Allen said during a press conference at the White House.

"The second vessel is on its way," Allen said.

Blogspot Down

Sorry for no posting, Blogspot down.

Quote of the Day

"What started out as a whiff of rookie incompetence has become a suffocating odor." Michael Goodwin of the NYP commenting on Obama's Presidency so far.

I would have replaced the word "odor" with "stench", but a solid quote nonetheless.

BP cap captures '10,000 barrels' a day in US Gulf

Knock on wood, this might actually work.

The amount has risen since Saturday, and implies more than half the estimated 12,000 to 19,000 barrels leaking each day is now being captured.

The spill has been described as the biggest environmental disaster in US history.

Mr Hayward told the BBC that BP would restore the Gulf to its original state.

Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show, Mr Hayward said: "As we speak, the containment cap is producing around 10,000 barrels of oil a day to the surface."

UPDATE: 10,500 Barrels Of Oil Collected From US Gulf Leak Sat

Looking better.

Home-Sales Decline Suggests Trouble; Drop in Home Sales in Wake of Tax Credit Tops Forecasts

Yet more great news.

The withdrawal of federal tax credits for home buyers led to a steeper-than-expected plunge in May home sales in much of the U.S., as the housing market struggles to wean itself from government support.

Economists and real estate analysts expected home sales to slow after the tax credit, of as much as $8,000, expired at the end of April. But early data from real estate brokers indicate that the sales decline has been far more substantial than expected, with some markets showing declines of 25% to 30%.

Unemployed Americans are facing the longest wait on record to find work.

More great news.

Unemployed Americans are facing the longest wait on record to find work, a sign faster economic growth is needed to reduce the jobless rate from close to a 26- year high.

The average duration of unemployment jumped to 34.4 weeks in May from 33 weeks the prior month and 16.5 weeks in December 2007, when the recession began, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington. The number of unemployed has almost doubled to 15 million since the start of worst slump since the 1930s.

Futures Extend Losses After Jobs Report

Watch the Obama administration try to spin this one.

US stock futures extended their losses Friday after a report showed fewer jobs were added to nonfarm payrolls last month and most of those were temporary census workers.

US employers added 431,000 jobs to nonfarm payrolls in May, but 411,000 of those were temporary census workers. The private sector added just 41,000 jobs: Manufacturing, temporary help and mining added jobs, while construction declined. That number was also well short of the more than 500,000 economists had expected. The unemployment rate, however, fell to 9.7 percent from 9.9 percent in April.

"This number is extremely disappointing," said Todd Schoenberger, managing director at LandColt trading. However, he said, it should come as no surprise. "Considering first time jobless claims have been inching higher over the past four weeks ... and GDP came in at a lackluster 3%, American companies are going to be reluctant to hire."

Ottawa Soccer League: Score Too High, You Lose

Yet more previews of coming attractions.

In yet another nod to the protection of fledgling self-esteem, an Ottawa children’s soccer league has introduced a rule that says any team that wins a game by more than five points will lose by default.

The Gloucester Dragons Recreational Soccer league’s newly implemented edict is intended to dissuade a runaway game in favour of sportsmanship. The rule replaces its five-point mercy regulation, whereby any points scored beyond a five-point differential would not be registered.

Kevin Cappon said he first heard about the rule on May 20 — right after he had scored his team’s last allowable goal. His team then tossed the ball around for fear of losing the game.

He said if anything, the league’s new rule will coddle sore losers.

Obama Weekly Approval Average Dips to New Low of 46%

At 46%, President Obama's job approval average for the week ending May 30 is the lowest weekly average of his administration, one point below the previous low of 47% measured in April.

This combined with the historic lows projected on the Generic Congressional ballot polls spell disaster for the Dems in November.

Black lawmakers push to cut back new ethics office

CBC's concept of affirmative action: "let us get away with anything."

Stung by a series of inquiries, nearly half the members of the Congressional Black Caucus want to scale back the aggressive ethics procedures that Democrats trumpeted after gaining control of Congress.

Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, and 19 fellow black lawmakers in the all-Democratic caucus quietly introduced a resolution last week that would restrict the powers of the new independent Office of Congressional Ethics. The office, formed by Congress in 2008, is run by a panel of private citizens.

Black caucus Chairwoman Barbara Lee, D-Calif., is among the sponsors, but the full 42-member caucus did not endorse the measure. Lee declined comment through a spokesman.

Feds meet with film director Cameron on oil spill

WASHINGTON (AP) - "Top kill" didn't stop the Gulf oil spill. How about something "titanic"?

Federal officials are hoping film director James Cameron can help them come up with ideas on how to stop the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The "Avatar" and "Titanic" director was among a group of scientists and other experts who met Tuesday with officials from the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies for a brainstorming session on stopping the massive oil leak.

The Canadian-born Cameron is considered an expert on underwater filming and remote vehicle technologies.

If this doesn't illustrate the total cluelessness and complete ineptitude of the Obama administration concerning this oil spill, nothing will.

Al and Tipper Are Splitsville

Wanna bet there's a bit of infidelity in this story...

Al and Tipper Gore, whose playful romance enlivened Washington and the campaign trail for a quarter century, have decided to separate after 40 years of marriage, the couple told friends Tuesday.

In an “Email from Al and Tipper Gore,” the couple said: “We are announcing today that after a great deal of thought and discussion, we have decided to separate.

“This is very much a mutual and mutually supportive decision that we have made together following a process of long and careful consideration. We ask for respect for our privacy and that of our family, and we do not intend to comment further.”

Quote of the day from Rush Limbaugh: “who gets the internet?”

In Venezuela, the implosion of Chavez continues

Kindof reminds me of what Obama is doing here.

Hugo Chavez has been keeping a relatively low profile of late — there have been no grand world tours, no fiery speeches at the United Nations. The Obama administration, which once promised to “engage” the Venezuelan caudillo, is instead quietly shunning him.

There's a simple reason for this: The implosion of Chavez's self-styled “Bolivarian socialism” is accelerating.

Figures reported Tuesday by Venezuela's Chavez-controlled central bank portrayed an economy that is completely out of sync with the rest of the region — and perhaps unique in the world in the degree of its distress. Gross national product fell 5.8 percent in the first quarter, while inflation remained at 30 percent. Private investment plummeted 27.9 percent as capital continued to flee the country.

Private economists suspect the economic contraction is even worse than what the official figures concede.